Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.07.

A number of equities analysts have commented on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Westlake by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Westlake by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 3,182.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,112,000 after purchasing an additional 212,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $107.57 on Tuesday. Westlake has a 1-year low of $104.74 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.69 and a 200 day moving average of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $13.79 billion, a PE ratio of 151.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.